


When the Levee Breaks

by Little_Aliens



Category: RWBY
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adam fails at being nice, Adam tries to be nice, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fights, Hurt/Comfort, Injury Recovery, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Slow Build, Slow Romance, battles, cool weapons, faunus, scheming Adam
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:35:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 22,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24025192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Little_Aliens/pseuds/Little_Aliens
Summary: Adam wakes in pain, breathes and becomes the agony that proves he's survived to realize that he is being cared for by the very thing he despises, humans. They are kind and don't treat him any differently than they would someone without horns on their head and it confuses and irritates him. The town is secluded by water on all sides and home to both humans and faunus alike. He wants to tell his brethren to be on guard, because he can't let go of what happened to him in the past, doesn't want to. Then he meets her, and slowly, but surely, something changes.
Relationships: Adam Taurus/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 16





	1. Awake

Pain. Death was pain. All encompassing, filling up every empty space with the burning agony of it with a weight so heavy it was as if hands had pushed their way into his chest and were pressing down hard on his lungs. He wondered what had gotten him first, the blood loss from two stab wounds, the fall that had knocked him out, or the water filling his body until they were one and the same? Whatever had gotten him didn’t matter anymore, but he hadn’t been expecting death to be so torturous. Everything ached and there was a rushing in his head, continuous and deafening, drowning out all else but the pain. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t see, could not even cry out for all the hurt he was feeling, surely this was hell. 

Time stretched on like a scorching desert, endless and dry. Twisting his sanity, the sands, at times would fill his throat and stomach, choking him as if he was swallowing glass. After a long time, the pain started to throb, gaining intensity as each minute passed pulsing and blistering with its continued irritation, finally he was able to scream into the dark void of his torture. Agony, bubbled up from his mouth and barely broke through the roadblock of his dry lips that had been sealed since he hit the water. There was anger in his cry, loathing and regret, frustration and desperation. 

It hurt to finally be vocal but it was worth it, still the blinding pain persisted, numbing his entirety, but flashing red hot every few minutes to remind him of his eternity. 

There was only darkness in this hell. He could not tell if he was this gaping black all around or if he was somehow stuck in the middle, the only prevalent thing was the ache and anger, but even that faded with time. 

Then suddenly, the world was dim and he was aware of how his body ached, how he tried and failed to lift his hand in front of his face to see if the emptiness had receded to torture someone else. Faint light and whispering came from his left and he forced his head to turn and follow where the corners of his room began to materialize. The small movement made him grunt in agony and depleted all his energy, but as he fell back into his black world, once again, the door began to open. 

Slowly, in short bursts he became aware of himself. The numbness of his chest, bandaged and throbbing head, broken leg and arm, and a multitude of cuts and bruises littered across his skin. They pulled at him tightly when he tried to move and look at the room he was in. 

It was a large with a fireplace that only recently began to glow with warm coals that barely touched his, at times, feverish skin. The soft orange and yellow it emitted was comforting and often lulled him back into the darkness he so hated. A table with two chairs stood against the wall next to a window so well covered there was no evidence of outside light at all. For days he stared at the thick fabric that restricted it with nothing but curses prodding at his chapped lips. How he wanted to rip it off to see where he was, to see anything else but this same room every time he woke up, to see someone, anyone. 

There was also a plush armchair next to the burning embers, it looked old and well worn, but he imagined it soft to the touch. Perhaps when he was better, he would sit in it, he imagined himself there, warming his feet near the flames. 

“-ine,” came a faint voice that he tried to focus on. “You’re fine.” It spoke again. Soft, breathy, and cool against his burning skin, there was a breeze on his face. The room seemed to swell with cold air that cut through his fever like a knife and calmed him instantly. “You’re stronger than this.” 

A chilled hand brushed some hair off his forehead and lingered, chasing off the remaining burn of sickness that was stubbornly clinging to his skin. In the dim light, with his sleep addled mind, he saw someone above him, but could only make out the sound and shape of feathers and wings. He was dreaming, an angel, he had to be dreaming. 

When he woke again is was to the faint noise of a pencil scratching and he turned haltingly towards the sound to see a faunus with a long and large tail that was covered in scales. There were a couple candles on the table that hadn’t been there before, lit and lighting up the paper the man was writing on. He was so focused on this new man he almost missed the small difference in the covered-up window, but saw that it was pulled back slightly, letting a bit of sunset peak through. The other faunus was deep in thought by the look on his face and only noticed that he’d woken when he tried to pull himself up but couldn’t. 

Wordlessly the scaled man moved to help him into a sitting position, putting an extra pillow behind him in order to ease the strain of movement after such a long time of laying down. Most of his body was bandaged with clean white cloth and his clothes were done and away with, he was dressed in a thin grey t-shirt and loose-fitting soft cotton pants. Nothing that would tighten or restrict him in any way. His gaze moved again to the window that he’d been thinking about since he first noticed it covered. The other man smiled softly and pushed it open the rest of the way so he could see the soft shades of orange, yellow, and blue as the sun faded and welcomed night. 

Behind him the door creaked as the tailed faunus left him alone, and though he wanted to speak with the man and ask where he was, what had happened, part of him was thankful for the silence. Quicker than he would have liked, the colorful painting in front of him changed into the darkness he’d grown used to. His body still ached and it hurt to breathe, but it was the first time in a while he’d been thankful for sunset. 

He didn’t remember falling back asleep, but when he was again aware of himself and someone else in the room, the curtain was opened just barely, letting warm light sink in to fill dark corners. It lit up the features of the scaled faunus in front of him who had looked over to see him stirring from his sleep. This time he was able to make out more of his features and appearance, the way his green eyes flickered to yellow in the faint light. 

He had dark brown skin and black hair that was cut shorter than his, and large shoulders and arms, the guy must’ve been massive when standing at his full height. He was wearing a simple dark grey sweater and black pants tucked into well-worn brown boots. 

“Wh-,” his voice faltered from all the unuse it had experienced for however long he had been here. “Who a-are,” was all he could manage to choke out. His lungs and throat felt like they were on fire and tickled him to start coughing. It hurt even more as he hacked and felt dizzy at the sudden, harsh movement of his body that seemed to pull at skin that was stitching itself back together slowly. 

After a few moments there was a mug of something warm being pushed into his good hand, and when his fingers could barely grab it the edge was leaned against his lips. Hot liquid poured into his mouth and numbed his throat quickly, quieting the coughs before it settled into him soothingly. 

“Better?” The man asked with a soft smile. 

A small nod was his response as he allowed the injured man to grab onto the mug now that his fit had halted. The taste of it was floral but sweet, with something else nagging at the back of his mind, something familiar. 

“My name is Russ,” the scaled man said. “You’ve been out for quite some time,” he explained. 

“Wh-Where are we?” The drink had helped his voice a great deal. As if a protective coating had latched onto his throat. 

“Assana,” Russ said before continuing. “A small village surrounded by waterfalls. You’ve been here for a few weeks now, fighting off fevers and infections.” 

The new information set onto him like a ton of bricks, only three weeks had felt like years and years inside that darkness full of agony. 

“How did I?” His throat started to hurt again and he looked down at the drink in his hands. It was a pale pink color. 

“Leven found you in the river, she and her mother have been taking care of you all this time. I’ll be here for a week if you have more questions, my room is right across the hall.” 

At the mention of being pulled from the river he started to remember why he had been there in the first place and felt himself getting angry and bitter over what had happened to him because of her. 

“This village is mixed, humans and faunus, and whoever else wants to live here, they’re proud of that,” Russ said. His eyes slanted slightly towards the injured man to see how he would react. “Leven is the granddaughter of the village chief, he’ll come talk to you in the next few days.” 

“Will I be able to-?” He faltered, unsure of what he wanted to ask. Would he recover enough to stand, walk, or even fight? The tailed man seemed to understand even though his questioned had gone unfinished. 

“With enough determination,” Russ grinned. “Yes.” The injured man sighed in relief. 

Russ lingered in his room for a few more moments, waiting for more questions before leaving in response to the quiet, closing the door carefully. They started bringing in food while he rested, and Russ would come in to make sure he was able to consume it with his good arm while the other hung in a sling. 

In the next couple days, his body and mind began to adjust to this new routine where he was spending more and more time awake during the day, trying and failing to bring his legs over the side of the bed. Feeling stupid yet successful as he progressed alone in his room trying not to grunt in pain and bring Russ into his space. 

His one persisting thought was of her, his revenge hadn’t worked and with how he was now, there was no way he would have a chance of getting it again. She would be getting stronger and stronger while he was on crutches, or stumbling around with a sword, which he didn’t even have anymore. Again, she had left him, again, he was alone. If he had one goal is was to walk, thinking about anything else at the moment just riled him up for no reason and he didn’t have the energy for it. 

The only companion he had in this world right now was Russ, the faunus who had told him he was a doctor and would often travel between small villages trading medicine and goods. His hometown was much larger, but he loved the comfort and warmth of smaller places like Assana and Fenford, which was the next closest city. He’d never pried into the injured man’s life or even asked for his name; it was as if he was waiting until it was ready to be given. Almost a little annoying at how easy going the scaled faunus was. 

Russ was talking idly about gossip from other towns when there was a knock on the door before it creaked open slowly. A man about the same size and stature as Russ walked into the room, his green eyes hardened into a cold discerning stare that leveled on him coldly, a human. 

“So, you’re the faunus my Leven pulled from the water,” his voice was stern, but not unkind. “My name is Warrick; I make sure the people in this town are safe, that they can be trusted. Can you be trusted?” 

“Yes,” the injured faunus said hesitantly. It was such a difference between Russ and Warrick that it put him off slightly. The older man hadn’t changed his way of speaking at all when he said faunus, and even nodded towards the doctor who was sitting back down in his chair. 

“That didn’t sound very confident, and those wounds. Someone wanted you to disappear,” he motioned towards the visible bandages across his body. 

“Oh hush,” a new voice pushed between them. A woman with the same green eyes walked into the room tentatively, a mug of something in her hands that she proceeded to hand off to the injured man. “You know you’re not good at the tough man act, why keep trying?” 

“Fern,” Warrick sighed in defeat. 

“I’m Leven’s mom, can I know your name?” They were almost too similar in appearance; Fern had her father’s stern eyes and dark green hair, but her lips were turned up in a smile while his seemed stuck in a frown. 

“I haven’t even asked him that yet,” Russ cut in. 

“Adam,” the bull faunus said, voice soft. He was still getting used to using it and sometimes being louder was a little painful. The mug in his hands was warm and the same pale pink as it had been before, soothing and numbing on his tongue. “I can promise you that no one is looking for me.” There was no one left who cared. 

His words stopped them short of their conversation with him and each other as he glared down at the drink in his good hand. Getting help from human’s was one thing, admitting that he was alone was another, but what choice did he have. Without them he would’ve died, a human had pulled him from the water and taken care to dress his wounds and make sure he was okay. He didn’t want to make an exception for anyone, but at this point he had no one. 

“You can stay here as long as you like,” Fern assured him. Though her father grunted about something he didn’t refute the offer and Russ smiled in front of him like it was normal. These people were either stupid or had some ulterior motive with him, it was a kindness he wasn’t used to and therefore felt the need to reject. 

“Before I leave,” Russ caught his attention. “I can help you walk around the village, if you’d like?” 

“No,” Adam almost growled. He didn’t need help, didn’t want anything more from these people, but faltered at the smirk the doctor displayed instead of hurt. 

“Stubborn,” he laughed. “I’ll leave crutches.” 

“Your arm should be good in a few days, explore as much as you want,” Fern said picking up some dishes from lunch. “No rush.” 

Warrick merely mumbled something before leaving the room at the insistence of his daughter who left him and Russ in a comfortable silence. They had a couple more days of halted conversation together, Adam wasn’t much of a talker, before the doctor bid him farewell with the promise to return in a couple weeks on his usual route. 

His absence made the room unbearably quiet, even if his idle chatter had been somewhat annoying at times it was nice to have another faunus so close to him. Leaving him with Warrick, Fern, and Leven, whom he had yet to encounter, who were all humans. He’d done his best throughout life to avoid them as much as possible, for what had happened to him it made sense. Yet here was, alive because of them. 

A couple days of trouble and pain saw him leaning heavily on crutches with his healed, but sore, arm. His left leg was still heavily bandaged and throbbed in agony when he accidentally put weight on it, but he refused to be inside all day again. As he hobbled into the main lobby of the house, which looked more like an inn, Fern walked down the stairs with a fond look on her face even though he almost growled at her. 

“There’s chairs in the front if you-,” she started to say before a muffled alarm could be heard. Her expression changed in a second into a sterner glare that jerked to look out the front windows. 

Her stature got more rigid before she looked at him and back at his room before speaking again. 

“Where’s Leven?” She shouted upstairs waiting for her father to respond. 

“She’s on the other side with Blythe, they’ll be right behind us,” he heard Warrick before he saw him, as the man rushed down the stairs with a large sword strapped to his back. He offered Adam an indifferent stare before leaving. 

“That’s the grimm alarm, this house is protected you need not worry,” she said to him her eyes shifting towards the front door. “We’ll be back in time to make dinner,” she laughed before running away from him. Hastily tying a belt around her waist and grabbing a couple guns she was out the front before he even made it to the middle of the lobby. 

Shouting could be heard from outside, but there were no screams of terror like he had been expecting. Adrenaline jetted through him as the familiar thrill of hunting burst into him at the thought of being able to fight grimm again and burn off some steam. He was itching to start walking on his own, even though he’d only just started with a crutch. 

It would be smart of him to turn around and go back to his room, but he wanted to see the commotion, how this village responded to such things, if they were prepared enough to defend themselves, or if he could be of any help in the future. 

There was a small canal that seemed to replace where a large road might have been, houses on either side. A few people were still walking around, not panicked like he had been expecting, but moving towards their houses all the same, as if merely coming home from work for the day instead of seeking refuge from grimm. He didn’t miss the appearance of other faunus here and there, it truly was a mixed town. What he did miss, only for a second, was the sound of wings flapping, but as soon as he turned it was all he could pay attention to. A bird faunus. 

They were rare, he’d only ever seen one before. She was flying quickly above the canal, while another person, human this time, ran on top of the water below her. He couldn’t make out much in the few moments that she passed by in front of him, a huge gust of wind whipped at his hair as she soared by. Leaving the huntress below her to catch up, though she was also moving quite quickly on the water's surface it could not compare to the one in flight. 

He couldn’t help but watch her until she was out of sight, which was only a few moments later. Wondering over what weapon she used and what her semblance might be. Was she a good huntress? How did she fight with her wings? If she had been around him before would they have been strong enough together, no, there was no use thinking about that now. 

When Fern and Warrick returned, he was sitting in the plush chair in front of the fireplace, which was as soft as he had imagined it would be. Although he had not been able to get very far, with the grimm attack and all, he was somewhat sore from the short walk to the front of the house. It made sense though, he’d been bedridden for so long and was even still wounded. 

“Do you want me to light the fire?” Fern asked after placing a tray of food on the table. 

“Which grimm did you fight?” He questioned instead. Beowolfs were small fry and could be killed by even the most basic of hunters and huntresses, they probably wouldn’t even set the alarm off for something so trivial. 

“A pack of Beowolfs, which was easy, my dad handled them in minutes. The Beringels were much more difficult,” she sighed and Adam knew why. They were smarter, stronger, and faster than the wolves could ever imagine to be, more than one of them would definitely prove to be a hassle. “Leven and Blythe took care of them quickly, even though they arrived late.” She smiled fondly. 

“I think I saw them,” he muttered. The image of the bird faunus repeated in his mind again, he wanted to see her in action. 

“They’re hard to miss,” she chuckled. “Leven tried to go to a school for huntresses but,” she faltered her expression saddening. “It wasn’t for her.” A story was there, something hurtful, but it wasn’t his place to ask about it right now. “I’ll leave you alone now.” 

Leven was more than likely the girl running on the water earlier that day, her semblance must have had something to do with waves for that to happen. He didn’t get too good of a look at her, since he was too busy staring at the winged girl, but he was sure she would have the same strong green eyes as her mother and grandfather. 

That night, and the one that followed, his dreams were invaded by the faunus where he imagined her face and even pasted someone else’s on there was well. They were surreal and left him confused in the mornings, even a little frustrated perhaps. 

The next time he got out the front door his leg wasn’t aching as much as it had been before, and his once broken arm was more used to being used. Fern had explained that her semblance, protect, enabled her to shield as well as heal people, although multiple injuries took a lot out of her. She was able to speed up his healing process, but that was the extent, if it had been just a broken leg he would’ve been healed in a week. 

He was grateful for that, though part of him still wanted to resist her small conversations and help because she was human, perhaps he’d never get rid of that hatred. All he could do was make an exception for the few that cared for him, and maybe the one that had found him in the first place. Thus far he liked Leven, if only for the fact that they had never spoken and she didn’t seem keen to visit him. 

Fern had her back to him, talking to someone cheerfully, if her big hand motions were anything to go by. Both Warrick and his daughter were decently tall, he’d seem them next to a couple villagers who came for advice and saw how they towered over them. He was about six feet four inches tall himself and usually did that, so it was strange to look them in the eyes, and even up a little, in Warrick’s case. 

The green haired woman turned towards him suddenly as he got closer and revealed a much smaller girl with pale blue-grey hair. Long bangs covered the right side of her face and the rest was pulled into a low ponytail that went down to her back, one brown eye looked at him indifferently. A dark blue cloak hung over her shoulders and clasped in the middle, he could see the glint of a knife or sword that was tied around her hip. She was wearing a dark brown short jumpsuit that was open in the middle to reveal a thick looking material of light tan color, light grey long gloves and leggings covered the rest of her skin with knee high brown boots. The top of her head barely came up to Fern’s shoulder, but she seemed to make up for it with her gaze, which held his blandly. 

“Back outside, huh?” Fern said as a way of greeting. “Oh, Adam, you two haven’t met yet,” she motioned for the girl to follow her towards him. 

She complied and stopped a few feet in front of him, he could easily look over her head, and could now see a couple slits cut into her cloak. There was the beginning of a scar that started on the bridge of her nose going sideways before disappearing under her hair. It reminded him of his own scar that he’d made sure to bandage and keep hidden in the first few days of waking up. He almost felt a little naked without his mask or blindfold on, but had gotten used to having just the one covered over the past few weeks. He saw her eye flick over his form for a second and then settle back on his gaze before he turned to Fern instead. 

“This is my daughter Leven, she’s usually off fighting grimm or training, which is why you haven’t crossed paths before.” She explained. Adam swallowed his surprise and masked the curious expression from his face, she looked nothing like Fern or Warrick. Even if she mostly took after her father the difference between the two ladies in front of him was too drastic, she had to be an adopted daughter. 

“Did you lose your weapon in the river?” The girl spoke suddenly. She must’ve known just from looking at him that he was a fighter, or former fighter anyway, even without his signature look there was a certain way he carried himself. 

“Yes,” he said, unconsciously reaching for where his sword would have been sheathed. She followed the movement, the small twitch of his fingers when there was nothing there but air. “A sword and scabbard.” 

“We’ll look for it,” she muttered, as if bored with the conversation. “Mom, Blythe is waiting for me at the cliff, I’ll be back for dinner,” Leven said to her mother. The older woman sighed, but nodded. 

“Be careful, don’t cut anymore tree’s down,” the last part was growled out and made the shorter girl grin. 

“No promises,” she said before jogging away from them. He watched her leave, almost uninterested until her cloak started to move and a pair of grey, brown, and slate blue wings began to emerge from underneath. His one eye widened in surprise as he watched them open and unfurl from their hiding place as she moved. Fern noticed him stiffen next to her and watched, slightly amused, at his reaction. 

A few more steps and a gust of wind rose up beneath Leven, catching her wings and launching her into the air where she soared quickly out of sight. No one else seemed to care about her taking off, the other villagers going about their business as usual, already used to the chief’s granddaughter and her wings. 

“Yes,” Fern said to his silence. “She is adopted.” 


	2. Walking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Russ is a pangolin faunus, I thought the tail was so interesting.  
> I don't have a beta, please excuse any spelling or grammatical errors I read through it once.

The story of how Leven came to them was not discussed, nor did he pry into it, even though he wanted to. Hobbling around on his crutches was still painful and Adam was only able to make it as far as the back of the house, where fern tended a garden, before he started to struggle. She came down the stairs to find him leaning against the outside wall of his room, grunting in discomfort and anger towards his pathetic struggle. It looked like she wanted to offer help but one look at his determined expression sent her off towards the kitchen instead, if they had learned anything about the bull  faunus it was that he didn’t like being helped. He’d fallen a few times while trying to get out of bed, they’d found him growling and sneering at himself until he was able to get back into a chair or onto the bed.

His small goal, at the moment, was to make it to the first bridge that went over the canal in front of the house, it was a mere 30 yards away. Boats floated beneath it full of goods and people trying to move quickly through town, while children waved on from above or let their feet hang off the edge. It was a carefree town, from what he’d seen anyway, which was very little. The way it was laid out was interesting to say the least, apparently the Chief’s house was more near the middle, but he’d been told it was an island. 

To the north was an old mining town, abandoned and desolate with a cliff that attracted both teenagers and  grimm alike, and had been added to Leven’s list of places to patrol.  Fenford was to the south and also attracted many of the youth as it was a slightly bigger city and had a small school for those who aspired to be hunters and huntresses. It was where the winged  faunus had gone for two years and then never returned to, he still wondered about that story. East was mostly forest and held their training grounds, because the grimm liked to gather there in the shadows of the trees. To the west were waterfalls and lakes, also used for training, mostly by Blythe and her family.

Another week went by without seeing Leven again, and even though he was getting farther and farther out of the house she remained away. He wondered when, and if, she was ever at the house. Fern and Warrick didn’t seem to mind. They knew where to find her if she was ever needed, but mostly kept to herself, they told him.

It started to hurt less and less for him to walk out the front door and towards the street, he made it to the bridge and looked out beyond the village. The houses on either side of the canal were made of brick and had many windows lined with flowers and plants that sometimes toppled far down towards the water. There were three to four more bridges that crossed over the canal before it opened into the water beyond, that looked endless in the light of the setting sun. The colors of sunset reflected of the water and almost looked surreal to the bull  faunus , as if he was dreaming. 

From his right children laughed and then rushed past him a mix of bunny  faunus and human that unsettled him. He’d been fighting his whole life for something that didn’t matter here. No one looked at him any differently than they looked at anyone else, they didn’t stare at his horns or his covered eye. Merely a glance at him and a soft smile was offered as they walked past, as if he’d always lived here and wasn’t some strange beast they’d pulled from the depths.

He didn’t like it.

But he liked how the light reflected off the water and rose up early the next morning in order to catch the sunrise as it woke up the town. This was something he had yet to do, perhaps in the morning, when people were grumpy, they would glare at him. He wanted them to, to give him some sort of reason to hate being there.

The air was crisp and a slight breeze seemed to rise up from the canal as he limped his way onto the bridge. Goosebumps washed over his skin as he’d not received any new clothes besides the soft t-shirt and pants, but he didn’t care. Leaning heavily on the railing he watched as light began to illuminate the tops of the houses on either side of the canal in front of him. Getting caught on the tops of leaves and flowers along balconies Adam watched the world around him change from a dark murkiness to bright and hopeful. A few people passed him, none with dark expression towards him, but merely at the sun that had begun to blind them.

They should hate him, after everything he’d done. He almost wanted to tell them, Fern and Warrick, to see that familiar shade of disdain come over their faces, but then what would he do? Where would he go? He wasn’t well enough to pick up and leave. No. He would have to stay here until he could fight again and then what? Would he chase her?

Frustrated with his thoughts he turned back towards the rooftops and almost looked away before catching sight of Leven. She was a few houses away and had her face turned towards the light, making it impossible to see her features that were bleached out by the sun. Using the chimney as a bench, wings hanging lazily behind her, she remained static in the changing light.

He envied her. There was nothing to tie her down, not even the gravity, yet he could barely walk. In the next few  moments, she stood up and moved to the edge of the house, wings opening to the breeze as she let herself fall. Lifting up before she hit the water, she flapped and skimmed just above the waves, the very tips of her feather breaking the surface every so often before she was out of sight. He growled at her quick escape, bitter at his own  incapability . 

The first thing he would do when he was better was fight her, or at least see her in action. The only Semblances he knew of were Fern’s, which was protect, and Russ’, which he explained to be some sort of intuition. What did this small town have to offer in terms of power and fighting prowess? If there was anyone of interest or  skill, he wanted to fight them, perhaps better himself by the encounter.

By the time Russ returned Adam was beginning to walk on his own. Haltingly, every step sending waves of discomfort and achiness through his body, it almost made him nauseous but he persisted. The Doctor greeted him as he walked in the door.

“And people said you wouldn’t walk again,” he smiled. The comment made Adam stiffen slightly wondering which people had said  that, who else knew what happened. Although, there had to be more people than Leven, Fern, and Warrick, who knew where he had come from and how he’d looked. The other  faunus had likely told her water walking friend about how she’d pulled a bleeding and mostly dead man from the river.

“I’ll fight again too,” the bull growled.

“I’m sure you will,” Russ chuckled. Though it sounded like a joke there was no disbelief in the other man’s eyes or demeanor and Adam had to remind himself of the tailed man’s semblance. He’d been stubborn, and here he was walking again, just like the doctor had said would happen, though he could chalk it up to it being his own sheer will.

Russ was only there to drop off some things in his room before he was out the door again, to do his rounds of the  village , or so he said. Not before giving Adam a cup of something cold and blue that he insisted would be good despite its odd color and taste. The consistency was thick and almost gagged him, but its effect was almost instantaneous as the pain disappeared to be replaced by a heaviness in his legs. They felt like lead, but didn’t make him grunt or groan as he tried to pull himself up the stairs. 

That was how he’d been training himself the past couple days, taking them slowly up and down until he got used to pulling his body this way and that. Fern and Warrick left him alone and would pass him wordlessly without reaching out to catch him, even when he stumbled.

Despite them being  people he despised, or thought he did, Adam liked the green haired humans. Fern was kind, but understood without being asked or told differently when it was best to leave him alone or if he wanted company. Even then it was quiet he would simply listen in the same room as she made food or patched up things around the house, which was falling apart. Warrick was usually out taking care of the town, settling disputes, or dealing with merchants, and Leven. It was like she didn’t even live there at all.

Just as he got to the top of the stairs and was turning around to go back down Fern walked in the door, groceries in hand to start making dinner, she looked up at him when the stairs creaked but said nothing. Their house, which he’d been told had eight rooms, was the first inn to be built when the village was being established. Since then it had been retired by a, much fancier, twelve room lodge that was run by a very nice  faunus family, Fern had explained to him at one point.

The first floor, that he had traversed many times in his quest to finally put the crutches to rest, had four  rooms to the left side of the lobby which had a front desk that they now used to grow mint, rosemary, dill, chives, and cilantro. There were also flowers that Leven was supposedly in charge of, but they had withered long ago and their clumsily painted pots only held old dried leaves. It was an open layout, with two flights of stairs against the back wall to lead upstairs to four more rooms where the family stayed. The kitchen was on the other side of the wall that separated the dining area and the front desk, it was much larger than they needed, but worked out just fine.

There was a garden in the back that Fern tended, it seemed Warrick and Leven were both abysmal with keeping plants alive. He hadn’t explored too much of the second floor, being up there felt strange after spending all his time on the first floor, and he wasn’t fast enough to get away if they caught him snooping. 

At the last stair Russ came back into the house with some bags of his own, probably traded for his medicine and treatments. He opened his mouth to say something before quickly moving out of the way and holding the door open as a gust of wind swept into the house and was quickly followed by the rarely seen daughter of the chief. Adam offered her a cool stare as she folded her wings back behind her cloak and rushed into the space. She held his gaze, her own indifferent expression coloring her face before she looked at the doctor.

“Leven,” Russ smiled.

“Mary’s son has a fever,” was all she said in response before walking up to the desk. Her eyes flicked over some of the plants before she placed something down onto the space between flower pots and seasonings.

“Dinner’s almost ready Lev,” Fern shouted from the other room.

“I’ll be back in an hour,” she replied in kind.

Then she looked back at him, the same face as before, bland eyes barely even regarding him before they broke contact and she glanced down at whatever she’d placed on the counter before flicking back up at him.

“I’ll go see Mary then,” Russ chuckled.

“Should I make food for Blythe too?” Fern questioned from the other room.

“Yes, please,” Leven turned away from him then.

Leven left just as quickly as she had arrived and was out the door and out of sight before Russ had even made it to his room to collect things. Adam watched her go before turning his attention at the thing she had placed down on the front counter. It took him a few slow steps to get there but he froze when finally setting eyes on a very familiar object, one he thought he would never see again. His scabbard, Blush, looking somewhat worse for wear than it had before, lay between dead and thriving plants as if it had always been there.

He hesitated for a moment, something about seeing it there after so long felt unreal. All the things he’d seen in  Assana were new and unfamiliar to him, even the people with their mixed town was strange. Finally, there was one familiar thing, to prove who he was, to prove that he’d existed somewhere else outside of this small town. Wilt was still lost, probably stuck at the bottom of the waterfall after they’d thrown it, but at least he had part of his old self.

Blush was heavy in his hands, heavier than it had ever been before, as his body was still getting used to going up and down the stairs. It would still be a while until he was able to start training, fighting, or even finding another sword to replace his old one. He’d forgotten about the time Leven had said she would look for his lost weapons, simply because she rarely appeared in front of him. Part of him was grateful and the other part of him was loathe to admit it.

She was a mystery to him, the things he knew about her could be counted on one hand and the conversations between them were even fewer. She was busy patrolling the area around the city and keeping  grimm at bay, while he was stuck inside a house he was desperately trying to get out of. Not because they were keeping him there, Fern had said he was free to roam around and come back whenever he wanted to when he’d healed. Yet it felt different, because, at the moment, he couldn’t. 

Would she speak to him more if they were sparring or patrolling the boundary together? What was it that really got her talking?

Stopping himself short of thinking about Leven, Adam almost growled. She was a curiosity to him, but he wouldn’t allow himself to get interested in anyone right now, what good had it done him last time?

Russ returned before Leven did, and joined the bull  faunus and Fern for dinner, which was a rich stew with fresh bread. Warrick came in at the end after Adam had finished and began to walk back towards the front door. He’d taken to watching the sun set, filling his head with the changing colors of sky on the water instead of thinking about what he’d do after getting better. Instead of thinking about her.

There was a little chatter and a chuckle that disappeared behind him as the door closed, but he paid it no mind. In few of his own conversations recently had there been any laughter or bits of humor in what he or someone else had said to him. He hadn’t given it much thought until now. What kind of message was he sending these people that were helping him? That he was unsociable, but did that really matter?

They didn’t know what he was like before all this, or in general. What they knew was what they had observed and what he had told them, which was very minimal. Perhaps, if he was planning on sticking around, he should open up a bit more, but just the thought of it made him cringe slightly. He shouldn’t care about these people, he didn’t.

The only thing this town had going for it was Leven, the winged  faunus who was sure to be  formidable in a fight. If he could get her to join his side, his cause, he’d have a much better chance of winning the next time he faced off against her. It could be the goal, foolish as it may be, that would keep him going for however long it took to recover. He’d shot it down once before, but what else was he to do?

As if sensing someone thinking about her, or scheming in Adam’s case, Leven came into sight before him. Soaring just above the rooftops of the houses on the other side of the canal in front of him, he watched her flap her wings almost lazily before landing softly just a few feet in front of him. Barely acknowledging him before turning around to watch another girl jump up onto the road next to her from the canal. 

She had dark tanned skin and was taller than Leven by at least six inches, although still shorter than he was. It made the winged  faunus seem pesky and childlike next to the both of them, though she made up for it with her bland expression and stare. 

“I’m Blythe,” the other girl spoke suddenly. 

There was a cheerfulness to her tone that he hadn’t been expecting, not when her friend’s voice always came out so joylessly. Her hair was short and wild, going out in every which direction as if she had been electrocuted, the color of it a muted beige that closely resembled the shade of straw. Plum colored eyes looked at him happily, accented by the slight turn of her lips. A dark brown tunic with purple sleeves and pink and violet leggings adorned her curved body. There was, what appeared to be, an old broom strapped to her back, how and what weapon it could possibly be escaped him.

“And you’re Adam, right?” She questioned before he could get anything out.

Bored with what was happening, Leven walked past them towards the door, her wings already shifted back under her cloak

“For my scabbard,” he said as her hand wrapped around the doorknob. She turned back to look at him, she wore a tired expression. “Thank you.”

“Blythe helped me find it,” she explained while pulling the door open and walking inside. Both he and the other girl watched her for a second before she giggled softly.

“I didn’t, she’s just shy,” Blythe smirked. “She was going up and down the river looking for it.”

“Thought it was gone for good,” he grumbled without meaning to.

“ So did I,” she chuckled. “Anyway, nice to meet you.”

He was left to his own once again, mulling over the new information almost unhappily. If he’d been well enough to do it  himself, he would’ve looked just as hard as she apparently had. But instead the task was left to another, uninvolved, party. Had she taken time out of her day to look for it? What was her day like anyway?

It unsettled him that someone would go so far for a stranger, although it wasn’t so weird when coming from such a family as Fern and Warrick. Leven may not look anything like her mother and grandfather but she sure took after them when it came to kindness and mannerisms. Afterall, she had been the very one to pull him out of the water and make the, no doubt, strenuous journey back home. As small as she was, he wondered, for the first time, how she could’ve handled it all by herself. Perhaps it had something to do with the semblance he still knew nothing about.

Even after the sun set Adam stayed outside, and was there when Blythe came back out the door to leave. She took a few steps before stalling when she saw that he was still sitting out there, the sun had already disappeared yet they were just able to make each other out in the dwindling light. 

“You know you could’ve come inside and sat with us, there’s plenty of space in the dining room.” She said kindly.

Adam offered her a blank stare, one that she was used to receiving from her feathered friend, so she pouted in response.

“Maybe next time,” he said fully intending to eat as quickly as possible to escape any family time he might intrude on in the future.

“Yeah, sure,” she seemed to catch on, but gave him a smirk anyway.

She then began to walk to the edge of the road slowly, stepping off the edge into the canal as if it was nothing, and he could soon see her walking on the water lazily in the last bits of light. It was the perfect semblance to have in a town surrounded by all water, and certainly made a good team with someone who could fight in the sky.

He wanted to fight her as well, test himself against her water walking ability to see if there was anything  else she had to offer. What really made him curious was her weapon, because it was a broom and looked like one a kid would use when dressing up for a witch on  Halloween . Surely, she got a lot of jeers for that, she had to. Leven’s weapon was still a mystery and he’d spent more than an afternoon wondering after what it could possibly be, what type of blade suited her best? What kind of fighter was she?

They were questions he would find the answer to eventually, if he planned on using them to get back on his feet and into shape again.

Two days later he got an answer to one of his questions when another alarm went off for  grimm and, as he’d already been outside, Adam had first row seats to watching a Nevermore fly towards the city. It was the first time he’d gone to the end of the street on the north side, where Fern and Warrick’s house was. The avian monster cawed at the city loudly and a scream behind him caught the bull faunus’ attention. There was a group of children on one of the bridges, as they liked to do, two little deer and a human girl froze on the spot. He jerked towards them a step and reached for a blade that wasn’t there, his hands grasping helplessly at the empty air. A moment later Blythe appeared in the canal, catching their attention and smiling cheerfully before she started sprinting up the side of houses as if she wasn’t defying gravity. 

Broom off her back and dragging against the brickwork she stepped on it at the last second, when her path of houses had run out, and a shot exploded from the  bristled end. It propelled her into the sky where a few more puffs brought her to the flying  grimm who then received a blow to the side of the neck. The damage was minimal, but with the creature now distracted, townspeople had a chance to get to safety

Blythe landed back onto the waves and began to lead the large avian away from the city, using her broom to dodge any attempt to hit her.

“Come inside,” a voice called out amidst the commotion. He looked away for a second to see an older, human lady, picking up the youngest  faunus before leading the others away. A kid rushed past him as well, trying to catch his attention.

“You can come to our house,” he offered. Adam spared him a glance, a human boy with bright green eyes, who lingered with him for a moment before disappearing through a door.

In the next few  seconds, a small breeze changed from a bit of wind into a sudden, powerful, gust that knocked him to his knees as Leven soared overhead. Her wings were angled slightly downwards as she sped towards the  grimm faster than he’d ever seen anyone move before. She met the Nevermore within the next moment and a blade glinted in the sun for a blink as the beast was knocked into the water. It struggled in the waves while Blythe had no trouble standing her ground even amongst the, now turbulent, lake.

Leven followed a new torrent of wind that spun her up into the sky where she opened her wings completely to catch the air and keep herself floating above them. Her friend wasted no time and waited until just the right moment as the Nevermore sputtered out of the water only to catch an  explosive broom to the face. It sunk slowly back down,  disintegrating at the same time.

Jumping up and down Blythe raised her weapon up in victory and Leven flapped away towards the direction that the  grimm had come from. Her friend followed a few moments later, leaving Adam behind to think about what he’d seen.

Nevermore’s were an easy defeat to a skilled hunter or huntress but would still cause a great deal of damage during the fight, depending on the location. It had only taken them a few blows to defeat the grimm, and they’d even taken care to lead it away from the city where it’s fallen body could still destroy houses and roads. They were experienced and powerful, he could at least tell that much.

He still didn’t know what Leven’s weapon was, but he’d finally seen her in action, if only for a few minutes. It wasn’t much to go from, she was fast and her semblance had something to do with wind or air perhaps. That was the only explanation as to why such strong gusts always  appeared to carry her through the sky, unless she could read the air really well, which could be a possibility with her wings. But it explained too much for the latter to be real. How else could she use it in a fight? How powerful could it get?

For the first time in a while he was excited. There was so much potential in Leven as a weapon, as a tool for him to get back on the top. What if the winged  faunus was an even better fighter than they were? She had an advantage, a big one, and he wanted to use it.


	3. A Fight

People in town seemed to understand his character without ever having met him in the first place, as if someone had tipped them off to how he was. Perhaps it had been Russ, the ever-friendly doctor who spoke softly in order to distract his patients away from pain or discomfort. No one tried to hold any lasting conversations with him, and instead smiled warmly with a small greeting of good morning or good evening. A simple nod was common in the early hours as he’d taken to exploring the town before it filled up with people starting their day.

As healed as he was Adam was able to make it around the town and be out for most of the day without having to worry about being too fatigued to return. Anything more than a brisk walk tired him out rapidly and made him more frustrated at his body than anything else. It was an irritation that did not go unnoticed by Warrick who had been watching him grow agitated with his limits daily. He reminded the  faunus that he’d been at death’s door and to give himself a break, and though the words were true it did little to comfort him. He wanted to be further along, to be fighting and training. Not wondering when he would be able to run again.

Fern was much more helpful when it came to training, understanding his impatience and telling him about an old spare boat they had that he could use to get to the forest, away from prying eyes. She also gave him an old scroll that he could use should he hurt himself and need help getting back to the house. He had to stop himself from refusing to take it and snapping back at her. Never, would he let himself call for help, even if he needed it, from a human. The first day he went across the lake the device was left under his pillow.

According to the green-eyed woman the area of the forest he was going to was used as a dueling ground for hunters and huntresses come home from school over the summer or during holidays. Leven and Blythe would sometimes use it to practice new attacks or test out weapons they received from the latter's father. If he wanted to watch it usually happened in the afternoon on Fridays after patrol and before dinner. Kids from town also came to watch in order to get an idea of what kind of weapon they might like to use or would suit their fighting style best.

He told Fern he’d think about it, but secretly couldn’t wait for the days to pass, as it would be his first look at Leven’s fighting style up close. 

The clothing he had received upon his arrival hadn’t changed much and made it harder for him to work out his body as it was fairly ill fitting and somewhat baggy on his form. Perhaps it had been some of the chief’s old clothing, as the older man was a bit taller and wider than him. It didn’t make for the best performance but it’d have to do for now, as he didn’t fancy asking them for anything else at the moment. They’d gladly give it to him and often said that, should he need anything else, all he had to do was ask, but that was the problem. There was so much he already owed to them, anything else would make him sick. They could use it against him if they wanted to, blackmail him and demean him. Although he could never imagine Fern doing anything of the sort it stuck with him, what had happened in the past refusing to be quieted.  Humans could not be trusted.

Working out in his room had been the first step, and after coming in to see him panting and trying to appear normal, Fern had started knocking on his door and informing him of food or if she was going out. She was a kind, considerate woman, who made him hate how he had begun to see her as a comrade. Warrick, on the other hand, barged into his room as if he was a teenager misbehaving, his calculating eyes glancing over his sweating form with discontent.

The journey back to being in shape and being a hunter would be long after what he had been through, and it had already been almost two months since he’d woken up. Thinking about the time he spent stuck in bed made Adam remember that one fevered night when Leven had placed her chilled hand against him. When he had stupidly thought of her as an angel coming to quell his sickness, he almost growled at the memory.

Slowly, he was gaining back muscle he had lost during his bedridden state, but even those were hard won. It came at the price of the rest of his body being insufferably sore, to the point that it hurt to move and reminded him of when he’d barely started walking again. 

He had fully intended on working non-stop until he was back in shape, or close to it, but his body had other ideas and, by Friday, protested every movement he made. Warrick noticed immediately and chided him on being too impatient while Fern merely offered him a sympathetic expression. Morning and early afternoon were spent carefully stretching and taking breaks until he could move well enough again. Then he was moving towards the forest for the weapon demonstration that Fern had mentioned a few days before. His boat joining a small group of kids and teenagers that were making a similar trek across the waves,  faunus and human mixed together in three different boats.

Without asking whether or not they were going to the same place Adam followed the group once they got to the forest, trailing behind them so they wouldn’t be able to question him without turning around. There were eleven of them, five  faunus and six humans, that chattered away about happenings in town or school, but also speculating about a hammer that had been shown the week before. 

There was a man standing in the middle of a small clearing that they came upon. His gaze was cast off into the forest where the rest of them turned to watch as a bright yellow object whipped around trees and veered towards his waiting hand. He caught it effortlessly and, once it was static in his fingers, they could see that it was a boomerang.

“Mr.  Pruim ,” one of the older kids greeted the man.

“Hey guys,” he greeted them with a grin. 

“Where’s Blythe and Leven?” Another,  faunus , girl asked.

“They should be around pretty soon,” he explained.

This man was supposedly the father of Blythe, and though they did have the same deep purple colored eyes, there was little else about him that spoke of how the huntress looked. He had pale, pasty looking skin, an endless  number of freckles, and wild brown hair, which was the only other similarity he shared with his daughter. 

“Is that the boomerang from last week?” The same older boy questioned.

“Why does it look like a banana now?”

“It is, the same, but we changed a few things. It will now return to whoever if wearing this glove, no matter where they are. Tate said it would look better as a banana, what do you think?” Mr. Pruim muttered the last part.

“Don’t listen to Tate,” one of them said.

“He’s never right.”

“No.”

“What if someone tried to eat it?”

The group, for the most part, did not agree with whoever Tate was, and Adam sided with them. Who would want to carry around a giant banana anyway? It looked stupid.

“I’ll tell him,” the older man sighed. 

Through the trees appeared Blythe, her footsteps soundless and impossible to pick up. The kids were a chorus of greetings and laughs that she sheepishly returned even cast a friendly glance in Adam’s direction. She was about the same height as her father and left the bull  faunus to wonder about how tall her mother might be and what she looked like. Instead of her outfit from before she sported a maroon cropped t-shirt and black high waisted athletic pants that clung to her legs like a second skin, looking quite ready for a workout.

Leven dropped quickly into the clearing from above them, her wings folding up at once to disappear behind her ever-present cloak, that she then proceeded to shed. Usual garb changed much like her friend and she now wore a cropped tank top with a high neck in a dark blue color. Grey leggings and black boots that the older man was instructing her to remove as well. Her usually loose pony tail had become a long braid that she had started to pin up into a bun, less it whips around her as she fought. Long bangs still covered her eye from them.

The winged girl received much the same welcome as her counterpart, but returned it a bit differently with nods and small smiles of greeting. Even then it was the first time Adam had seen such a range of expression on her face, though it changed back to normal upon seeing him there. He did realize upon watching them that she was the same height as some of the older kids in the group, she truly was a tiny little thing. The thought made him smirk slightly.

“What did you bring today?” It was Blythe who now questioned her father.

“It’s called, Deflection Armor,” he said while pulling it out. There were, what appeared to be, a pair of armored boots that went up and over the knees and sleeves that started at the shoulders, covering the entirety of one's arms and hands as well. “When struck, or thrown into something,” he paused and looked at Blythe and Leven with knowing looks. “The projectile or person will be directed, or launched in an opposite direction. The force of redirection all depends on the strength of the user and speed at which a blow is received.”

“Kind of like a forcefield?” A younger kid questioned.

“Yeah, kind of,” Mr.  Pruim grinned. “Blythe you get the sleeves, because you’re not as good with hand to hand.”

“Thanks for calling me out dad,” she faked a laugh.

“Lev gets the boots, they’ll adjust to your size, I know you prefer using your hands,” he ignored her glare in his direction. “That’ll make this more fun.”

“Does this also work against the ground, if I step down too heavily?” Leven questioned, not wanting to get jerked in a random direction.

“No, it’s not on the bottom of the boots, we already had that happen,” he explained. Once again ignoring the exclamation of uncertainty from the smaller girl.

Adam watched from the back as they pulled the boots and sleeves onto their bodies, but was more focused on Leven’s wings than anything else. She’d pulled them taught against her back, but the feathers would ruffle slightly in the breeze when she shifted and moved. Once she had the armor  on she tested her mobility and frowned at something she didn’t like, mumbling to her friend's father about her complaint. The older man pulled out his scroll and made note of a few things while she pulled on black fingerless gloves.

By the time Adam changed his stare to Blythe, she had just finished with the harness that crossed over her upper chest in order to keep them from shifting or becoming loose. Fully attached the sleeves covered her shoulders and her collar bone.

“The same goes for your palms B,” the man said to his daughter. “We did get that right the first time,” he beamed.

“That’s at least a plus,” the wild haired girl cheered.

“So, here’s your flags,” Mr.  Pruim sounded giddy. Two pieces of fabric appeared from his pocket, a grey one he handed to Leven and a pink one for Blythe, that they proceeded to stuff a corner of under the waistband of their pants. Clearly, they’d been through this many a time before and were now used to it. “I believe it’s tied right now because Blythe won last week,” he supplied, making the winged girl frown again.

“That can hardly be counted as fair, my weapon exploded when I grabbed it,” Leven muttered.

“Don’t be a sore loser Lev,” Blythe grinned. The  faunus narrowed her eyes at her friend who smiled even wider in response.

“twenty to twenty,” a kid reminded them. Leven growled but got into a fighting stance, her eyes stern and determined.

“Remember no head shots, no flying, and leave the crowd out of it,” the older man shouted while running to join the group of them.

“Leven looks pissed, she’ll definitely win this week,” one of the older kids guessed.

“I think Blythe has the better part of the armor though,” another speculated.

Adam had nothing to offer in terms of guesses, but listened to their chatter like a hungry wolf. It’d been a while since he watched anyone spar and even longer that he’d been so excited see the outcome.

Blythe moved first, tentatively throwing a punch out that Leven dodged, her wings opening for a second that caught her partner off guard for a moment, enough that she was able to catch her unarmored legs and send her off suddenly to the left. The plum eyed girl recovered in a blink and started to pull her legs away from extended and flying boots from her winged friend.

It was a somewhat slow-paced fight in the beginning, both of them landing shallow hits on the other with fingers barely brushing against their respective flags. Minutes passed and the speed changed as they got used to their new weapons and armor, he watched with barely concealed anticipation as Leven opened her wings in order to slow or quicken the rate at which she moved and fell. He’d expected her to be sloppy and impeded with her fighting style, perhaps even using her wings as battering rams that her opponent would not expect. Yet, somehow, her current style was even more unexpected, not that he could compare it to another winged  faunus he might’ve seen fight, as there wasn’t one.

The fight changed again when Blythe jumped back, and away, from a particularly vicious kick aimed at her chest, to land sideways on a tree trunk. She stood up, perpendicular with the ground and ran up the tree as if she wasn’t defying gravity. This new information assaulted Adam for a moment before he wondered about all the other things she could possibly walk on, the ceiling perhaps? 

Leven looked at her friend blandly, bored of the show, and then a smile pulled tentatively at the corner of her mouth.

“I don’t think we’ve ever fought this closely before,” Blythe laughed, catching her breath for a moment.

“I know,” Leven muttered in disdain. “I miss my distance.”

“I miss my broom,” her friend replied in kind.

“Whoever wins this week my mom will give a pie to,” one of the younger kids shouted at them. Leven and Blythe turned to look at the girl, a little fox  faunus with a large, bushy, red tail that moved in surprise at the sudden attention on her. For a moment they looked indifferent, considering if the hard work could be worth a single pie until the child spoke again. “Strawberry Rhubarb.”

That was what stopped them and immediately their gazes snapped back into each other filled with nothing but malice and determination. Blythe looked down at her friend with a grin from her sideways stance on the tree trunk while the winged girl fake checked her boots to make sure they were on tightly enough. While doing so a breeze started to brush past and against them as they watched, growing stronger and stronger until the kids were moving to take shelter behind some of the trees, their hair whipping around this way and that.

Leven’s expression was cold, not too dissimilar with the one she always offered to Adam, but with a hint of calculation that he hadn’t seen before. The bull  faunus had to assume that Blythe was used to whatever her friend's semblance seemed to be as the raging wind did nothing to her confidence, which was radiating off her in waves. A wide grin on her face that she kept plastered even as she launched herself towards the other girl who responded in kind.

Much the same as before the fight carried on with shallow hits and blocks that did little to either of them. A graze on the shoulder would jerk Leven to the side where she’d open her wings and bounce back just as quickly as before while Blythe used her own quirk to her advantage as she was constantly using trees as leverage against her friend. A grab at Leven’s flag made the girl growl in frustration, sending wave after wave of turbulent wind into her friend's face, and making her dig into the ground in order to stay on her feet. 

At almost the same moment Adam realized something at the same time as his fellow  faunus when Blythe’s fist hit her palm after getting blocked and jerked her arm out painfully. There was a slight change in expression that came over Leven’s face at the sight of it, and while the bull  faunus thought of what he would do with that information the much smaller girl acted. Launching herself at her friend as the wind died down, Blythe smirked at her as if knowing what was coming.

“You think that’s  gonna work?” She taunted, charging into it.

Similar to a match of tug-a-war, Leven let her gusts dissipate into almost nothing before sending one in the same direction of her friend, giving her an extra boost that caught her off guard. As she reached her winged friend Leven opened her wings and jerked back away from grabs and punches before kicking the bottom of her own foot with the toe of her other. Which resulted in an unexpected kick that Blythe did her best to block but, as the kick came from beneath her forearms, broke her barricade and sent them into the air. Within the next second Leven used the momentum of her own attack and the wind still pushing against her to grab the pink flag and open her wings to be pulled away from any counter that may follow.

“Hah!”

“ Nooo , my pie,” Leven laughed at the same time that her friend wailed.

Blythe, with her wild hair, looked much unchanged by the fight, while the smaller girl’s hair had begun to unravel from her tight bun. Throughout everything Adam had continued to get glimpses and glances at what was beneath her bangs and could make out that her scar went over her right eye and continued down towards her neck. It was hard to make out completely with all the movement but he’d take what he could get.

“Just come over,” Leven muttered while straightening herself out.

“Yeah, okay,” the other pouted.

“So now its twenty-one for Leven, and twenty for Blythe,” Mr.  Pruim announced, much to his  daughter's disappointment.

Throughout the fight there had been speculation amongst the kids and older man as they spoke strengths and weaknesses. Due to Leven’s smaller size she was harder to hit and moved faster than her partner, but her hits and attacks carried less of a punch because she was so light and fragile. Often tiring out her opponent before using her weapon to seal the deal. While Blythe was slower, she was much more powerful and more of a wild card when it came to fighting as she could push off of and use almost any surface to her advantage. They were a perfect partnership, and a fun sparring match to witness.

“You know what, I kind of like these,” Leven said looking down at the boots. “Normally I wouldn’t have been able to break through her block, but that deflection gave me what I needed.”

“Well-,” the older man started, visible excited before Leven cut him off.

“But I don’t want them. Getting close is too much for me.”

“Understandable,” he nodded in disappointment and collected the sleeves and boots from the two girls.

“Does that mean I’m going to your house Falu?” Leven asked of the crowd suddenly. The little fox girl nodded with a smile, jumping up and down slightly.

“Mom wanted to thank you guys for the other day anyway,” the little girl, Falu, explained.

“Alright, we’re  gonna go get pie dad, see you after dinner!” Blythe cheered.

“You make it sound like you won,” Leven muttered.

“Well you’re giving me pie  aren't you?”

“A small piece,” her friend deflated slightly.

“Still pie,” the wild haired girl stayed optimistic.

Falu began chattering to them about what she had thought during the sparring match and how her guesses had been wrong, with other kids chiming in while they gathered everything up. It was a short event, maybe lasting all of thirty minutes, but at the moment it was all Adam had to go off in terms of battle prowess. He still wanted to see her fight with her weapon, without holding back. There was always a certain degree that huntsmen and huntresses degraded themselves when it came to sparring matches, as they didn’t want to hurt their partner.

The group of kids dispersed rather quickly, taking the two fighters with them as they went back towards the boats leaving Adam with Mr.  Pruim awkwardly. They had yet to speak to each other and Adam was content to keep it that way, and begun to make his way back to the water as well but stopped short when the older man spoke.

“Blythe told me that you lost half of your weapon,” he stated. It wasn’t a question up for debate, but a fact. The wild haired girl must have said something about how Leven had only been able to retrieve part of his things from the river.

“That’s right,” Adam muttered as he replayed what had happened to his sword again behind his eyes. Perhaps it hadn’t moved, and it was still stuck in the ground near that waterfall, he’d probably never know the answer.

Whatever the man’s reason for bringing it up was Adam wanted to growl in frustration. It was another thing that plagued him in the middle of the night. Even if he could get Leven to join his side and get revenge on her he had no means of fighting against her. Not with only half his weapon and no way to unleash his semblance. And here this human was bringing it up, he was just about to start moving again when the next comment came.

“Maybe I could make you a new one?”

At his words Adam turned towards the older man suddenly with a look of suspicion on his face, his one visible eye a little wider than usual. This man had no reason to help him, there was nothing he could possibly gain from the struggling bull  faunus , and they’d barely met each other. He hadn’t even introduced himself or made any move to talk to him and yet there was such an offer on the table.

“I have no money,” Adam countered. It was true, he’d told Fern many times that there was no way for him to pay back what he’d been given and she shrugged it off, which made him irritated. Why was everyone here so nice? What was wrong with all these humans?

“You could help Leven and Blythe test out the other weapons once you’re back in the saddle, or even protect the city with them” he suggested. “The kids could always use another teacher as well.” That one made the bull  faunus frown and Mr.  Pruim laughed. “Not kids then, but it’s fine.”

“Why?” Adam did growl this time.

“Why not?” The older man countered and the bull  faunus couldn’t think of an answer.

Later that night after dinner, where Leven had left him a slice of pie, Adam stayed up late into the night in his room. Forcing himself to do painful sit ups that made his abs cry out in pain from all the strain he had been putting on his body. When his body could take no more, he sagged into the floor next to his bed, breathing heavily in frustration.

Blythe’s father had urged him to describe his old weapon to him or even think about trying out a new one. Maybe one of the sparring fights would find him something else he could use, or something they had done in the past would be a better fit. The man let his comments hang in the air before turning to clean up, and then left Adam to stew in his thoughts on the way back to the city.

He’d never considered that a town like this could exist in the world. His past way of life had always been very black and white of which direction he should go, who he should fight for, and where his hatred should be placed. Such was not this case here. No one in the town had spurned him for what he was, or how he acted. Even though he’d shown no sign of kindness or reason for them to trust him they did so blindly, and he hated it. Hated them for not asking him questions about who he used to be, about how he’d gotten injured or who had left him to die. There had to be something hidden in this town that would allow him to distrust them, some secret or motive that was hidden beneath the surface.

They couldn’t be this nice for no reason, they just couldn’t.

The prickliest person he had met so far was Leven, and even then, the winged girl had gotten part of his weapon back for him. With everyone acting the way they were he had no reason for his hatred of humans, nothing to support his dislike of them and need to push them away. As soon as he was able  to, he’d convince the smaller girl to join him and leave this town.

It also didn’t help that the strawberry  rhubarb pie was just as good as Leven and Blythe had made it out to be.


	4. Family Reunion

In the weeks that followed Leven beat Blythe two more times, then lost, and tied the last sparring match. The weapons ranged from a long whip-like broadsword which started to fall apart half way through the fight, it was part of the reason why the winged  faunus won so quickly, to a bow and arrow that fired, explosive, blinding shots like a firework, that malfunctioned at the worst moment. Sending both fighters into tree trunks and branches and they could see next to nothing for about fifteen minutes afterwards. The rest of them were either simple, or something he had seen before and instead focused his attention on how Leven adjusted and calculated everything during the battle.

If he had learned anything from watching the matches it was that Mr. Pruim, and his brother Tate, often had great ideas initially, that in the end needed a lot of work. The older weapon maker continued to ask Adam what he wanted his new sword to look like, or do, or if he wanted to do something else, and it was beginning to wear him down. Leven hadn’t found the rest of his ensemble, which had him considering taking the man up on his offer for a replacement. Nothing had really caught his eye though. Perhaps this week would bring something new to the table.

He’d taken to jogging in the forest now that his body was recovered enough to not ache and take him out for days at a time. There'd been a  rough few days here and there, but he was finally getting back into fighting shape and itching for a tumble with someone. A match with Leven was much preferred, but at his current level he was sure she would be able to beat him easily. He had yet to even see her fight with her own weapon, at full strength, and could barely imagine what it was like.

Summer holidays had started on Wednesday, according to Fern, and it was common for Blythe’s brothers to come home for the two-month break between classes. Two of them were teachers, while the youngest, a few years behind Blythe, had just finished his second year. They were expected to join the weapon testing matches and draw in a larger crowd than what usually appeared on Friday afternoons. He hadn’t thought much of it at first but after hearing other townspeople whispering about it throughout the week his interest piqued slightly.

Leven had gotten her grandfather to get him some newer, more appropriate clothes, for training and with the passing days he had started to look and feel more like his old self. Though he had to settle for the bandage that remained to block his scar from any prying eyes. He didn’t want to accept the clothes at first and only took them when the chief chucked them at his face while walking out of his room, the man wasn’t very patient when it came to house guests. Or anyone for that matter, it was Fern who often calmed her father down and helped resolve things around the town.

The streets were a little crowded with more kids home than usual. A couple new  faunus that he hadn’t seen before greeted him with a smile and a nod that was almost too friendly, as if they knew each other. He didn’t return the sentiments but had gotten better at not growling or frowning at well wishes sent his way. In fact, the barely noticeable movement of his head could be considered a sign of acknowledgement. 

“Is it okay if I come with you today?” Fern asked of him as he sat down for lunch. “We can take the new boat,” she offered.

There was no reason for Adam to turn her down, it would be rude of him to do anything but say yes, after all that they had done for him. He liked doing things by himself, especially in this weird town, but the kind woman, who was nothing but helpful, would have to be an exception.

“Okay,” he said. She smiled at his reply.

“Meet me at the docks in two hours,” she added before making her way to the back of the house. She usually spent an hour or so weeding and tending to her garden on Friday afternoons, while he went to watch Leven and Blythe fight.

“Will do,” he muttered. 

Adam didn’t spend as much time at the house anymore, because there wasn’t much for him to do besides train his muscles, have near silent meals, and sleep. During his bedridden state Warrick had left some of Leven’s old school and leisure books for him to read, which he had picked up begrudgingly. The boring ones were about fighting stance, most common grimm, weapons and their uses, and basic geography. The winged girl had made minimal notes in the margins, but for the most part they looked very much unused and new. What he had actually opened and read were the countless history books that she had made actual, interesting, comments and notes in. Other books were on the local layout of the lands around them and the  grimm that were most commonly seen. In the back few pages, and in empty space she had added a few pictures of others she had seen over the years.

In there she had written weaknesses and the places they appeared most frequently, along with the best weapons to use against them. It was organized and calculated, at one point she’d even kept track of how many were spotted and defeated. Adam had asked Fern at some point if she still needed them, perhaps Warrick had taken some without looking at what they were, but the woman assured him otherwise. Leven had studied and memorized them for years, and at this point held no further information for her.

It was into these books that Adam poured most of his downtime. There were a couple  grimm he had never seen or even heard of before, and it couldn’t hurt to know where it would count most to strike them. Part of him was hoping that he’d learn a little more about the smaller girl from her writings, but such was not the case, as it was more factual than anything. The only ones that hinted at her personality were the old school textbooks that had scribbles and nonsensical ramblings that must’ve been from the teachers. She was bored, which was understandable. Fern had told him early on that going to the academy wasn’t something that she enjoyed and didn’t pursue it more than a couple years. He didn’t blame her.

He’d never researched  grimm too much before, nor even thought about why which ones appeared where they did, but now he knew. Where to hit them, how to take them out as quickly as possible or catch their attention. Whether or not this was valuable information would be determined later. At least it kept him occupied.

The boat ride over was quiet for the most part, Fern made a couple comments about Blythe’s brothers and what he could be expecting from them. Oron and Vesel were twins and probably around his age, though Fern wasn’t too sure because Adam had never mentioned how old he was. Then there was Arnan, the youngest of the Pruim family and most indecisive person that she had ever met before, the boy could barely dress himself when he’d left for the beginning of the school year.

Fern’s smile had softened at her comment, leaving Adam to wonder what kind of memories it brought up in her own life, perhaps something about Leven.

When they arrived Adam almost groaned at the number of boats on the shore and the people who were sure to be chattering away at the edges of the clearing. Understanding his disdain for big crowds the green haired woman couldn’t help the apologetic shrug of her shoulders to the bull  faunus . There was sure to be students from other schools, not just the one the twins taught at, and parents pulled along by those kids, among the crowd. He’d just gotten used to all the children that usually went, even knew most of their names, and now he couldn’t even make them out in the crowd.

“Ms. Bradshaw!” A voice called out to them from the crowd. Fern and Adam watched as a teenager pushed himself through the crowd before stopping in front of them with a huff. He had pale skin, freckles covering the majority of his face, messy brown hair, and too familiar plum colored eyes that gave him away immediately as one of the  Pruims . 

“Arnan!” Fern exclaimed with a grin. “How was school? Did your brothers treat you well?”

“No, well, kind of,” he muttered changing his mind. “I guess they did, but they still pulled pranks on me,” he stopped short to think about it for a moment. “Maybe not.”

From the very short interaction Adam could see what the older woman was talking about when she said he was indecisive. He couldn’t even figure out how he was being treated, even though it was being done to him. Too much energy, Adam realized. So far, of the Pruim’s he’d met, they all had too much energy.

“Are Oron and Vesel already here?” Fern questioned.

“Yeah,” the teen replied. At least he knew that. “Unless they left.”

“Well, let’s go see.”

Part of him wanted to turn around and leave after seeing just how many people had actually showed up. Usually the crowd was around ten or eleven people and consisted largely of pre-teens who’d dragged their older sibling along to watch, but such was not the case today. There were at least forty people milling about and Adam felt very much out of place in all their friendliness and familiarity with each other. They all knew everyone, probably even who he was, while he recognized about ten people, and had talked to maybe five of them.

“Oh, Arnan, this is Adam, Adam, Arnan,” Fern interrupted his uncomfortable thoughts with a slight  introduction .

“The  faunus Blythe mentioned, right?” The teen looked at him quizzically. “Nice to meet you.”

“Hi,” was all Adam offered in return. 

The boy nodded, looking uncertain of something before turning forwards as they started going through the crowd to the front. He wanted to break off into the background like he usually did but Fern had mentioned wanting to introduce him to everyone else and he was really in no position to turn her down.

“Rena, it’s good to see you.” The green haired woman called out to someone else. A woman with curly pale-yellow hair and dark tanned skin turned around and smiled warmly, her brown eyes flicking to him for a second before settling on her friend.

He was introduced once again to the tall woman whom he found out moments later was Mrs. Pruim, and Adam could immediately see the resemblance between her and Blythe, save for the eyes and messy hair that she’d gotten from her father. Leven walked out of the trees a bit in front of him with an annoyed expression on her face and seemed to groan when a man with brown hair followed out from behind her, talking about something with a grin on his face. He couldn’t hear what they were saying, but he looked on anyway, as it was the first time he had seen the winged girl make some of the expressions she currently wore.

She was in the process of taking off her cloak and turned around to say something to the man when another, blonde haired guy, zipped out of forest on what could possibly be rollerblades. Making the bird  faunus turn towards him when he snatched the fabric from her hands and continued towards the crowd, bunching up the dark cloth lazily as he approached them. Blythe was next out of the trees and ushered the other two to pick up the pace until they were standing in front of the gathering as it muttered and greeted them idly. Then they were in front of Adam, Fern, and Arnan and he could finally get a good look at them.

“Adam?” The brown-haired man said it as a fact more than a question. His hair was short and curly, like Rena’s, and he had the same tanned golden skin. “I heard Leven had a hard time dragging you to the house.” He seemed cocky, plum colored eyes set into a confident stare that held his gaze until he responded. There weren’t any blades or weapons on his belt, that Adam could see anyway, only armored gloves that extended up his arms much like the deflection armor had weeks before.

“I don’t know,” Adam answered truthfully. He’d never really thought of it before, where Leven had found him and how she got him back to her house.

“She’s tiny, so it makes sense,” Arnan chimed in.

“I’m not that short,” Leven muttered from behind them. She was talking to her friend with a slight frown on her face.

“Like a child,” the other man cut in. He had the same curly hair, face, eye color, and height that the other did, but his hair was the same blonde as his sister and mother. Although, where his brothers stare was gleaming with mischief, his own stare was tired and relaxed, the slight turn of him lips betraying amusement. Both of them were the same height as him and didn’t hesitate to level him with their gazes, as if sizing up an enemy.

A glance at Leven showed her irritation in the conversation, a small frown dragging down her lips as she pulled her hair into a bun.

“I want to hit them,” he heard her say to Mr. Pruim who chuckled lightly.

The older man then called the twins over in order to explain the weapons they might end up with as well as splitting them up into pairs. The blade boots were removed along with the other man’s armored gloves and sleeves.

“Oron is the one with blonde hair, Vesel is the cocky one,” Fern filled in his questions turning away after he nodded in understanding.

Arnan saw that he wasn’t going to talk much and moved away, leaving Adam to observe the four fighters curiously while stewing in his thoughts. The image of Leven struggling to fly while carrying his heavy, waterlogged, body pushed persistently to the front. While speculation of what Oron and Vesel’s weapons were capable of hung in the back. With her small body it would’ve been rough to support him in the sky, or even lift him for that matter. Perhaps she’d used her wind to keep herself in the air and moving, although that still would’ve put quite the strain on her body to constantly use her semblance. 

The details of his discovery and rescue were never discussed or told to him and he’d never cared enough to ask, but now he couldn’t stop thinking about it. Vesel said it was a hard time, but she must’ve struggled with it at some point. Afterwards, she had to have been exhausted.

In front of him Mr. Pruim held up a bag that the brown-haired twin reached into with a laugh, exuding conviction until he read what was written on the piece of paper. Blythe looked over at her brother’s intended weapon and giggled, apparently it was something she had seen before. His twin picked next and huffed while Leven and Blythe took the two remaining slips of paper. The older man then told them to read it out loud.

“Frying pan,” Oron muttered in a bland voice.

“Rose stick,” Leven said in much the same tone.

“Axe shield,” Blythe said skeptically.

“Dad, why?” Vesel groaned. “Was this supposed to say banana?”

“Yes.”

“Uncle Tate?” He asked sternly. 

“Yup.” His father replied.

“Why do you let him make anything? What even if this?”

“It’s a boomerang,” Blythe chimed in. “We tested it once already and it exploded in Leven’s face.” She looked cheerful and somewhat happy to tell him such information. The comment made Vesel look at the smaller girl quizzically and she merely nodded in response. 

“These are all the rejected  weapons, aren’t they?” Oron speculated out loud.

“Yeah,” his father nodded.

The frying pan turned out to be about the size of a tennis racket and was primarily a shield, but could also be thrown like a frisbee, for some reason. Blythe’s weapon was exactly what is sounded like, an axe that could also turn into a shield, while Leven received a staff that was at least three feet taller than herself. It was covered in white and pink roses and had an elastic cloth, which was meant to look like a thorny vine, connected to it that could then be used to jerk it around. It reminded Adam of someone else’s weapon and he had to stop himself from growling in annoyance.

“That makes you look itty bitty,” Vesel chuckled at the winged girl.

“I’m aware,” she muttered blandly. 

“Stop picking on Lev,” Blythe hissed to her brother, hitting him with his flag for the evening. Instead of replying, the man merely smirked and made his sister sigh, exasperated by his behavior. 

“I want him,” the winged  faunus motioned behind her with her thumb towards Vesel who grinned at her comment.

“Wow, take me out to dinner first,” he teased. Leven’s expression didn’t change much, only her eyes seemed to darken at his words and intensify her glare.

“I guess I’ll fight her later then,” his brother muttered.

“Alright then, B and Oron come over here,” Mr. Pruim motioned to his kids. “You guys know the rules no headshots, no flying, and  ke -,” they cut him off.

“Keep the crowd out of it.” Vesel and Leven said simultaneously. 

“Also, you have a five-minute time limit,” the man added catching their attention. “We’re not having a repeat of last time.”

“Fine by me,” the chatterbox nodded. His opponent continued what she had been doing before, testing out the flexibility of her weapon.

It looked comical in her hands, the sheer height of it dwarfing her own and making her appear much like the twin had said. Two bands on either of her wrists would connect her to the elastic that should allow her to pull it this way and that, while the roses appeared to only be for cosmetic purposes. Vesel frowned at his own weapon, the fruit imposter that his father told him would return to his grasp as long as he was wearing the glove.

As soon as his father shouted at them to start the mischievous man jumped into action, chucking his boomerang off randomly, and Rena and Fern whispered idly about how he was always so quick to start in his fights. The type to rush ahead and figure it out later while he had the upper hand of surprise, although it appeared Leven was used to this. Even with her experience fighting the man, he caught her weapon within the first thirty seconds and tugged hard to get it away from her. Adam saw the slight twitch of pain in her face, as her wrist was wrenched in the opposite direction, before she retaliated. Launching at him headfirst and stopping short at the last second with a powerful flap of her wings that hit him in the chest as he reached for her.

He laughed when she kicked the stick in his hands at him before dodging the banana that was aimed at her back as it returned to its owner. She went for his legs next, putting a bit of distance between them with the length of the stick coming in handy. Her movements were quick and short, if he dodged or threw his weapon at her she would knock it immediately back at him, the first couple times had him struggling to catch it in his hand and not his body.

“Finally, a real fight,” the man chuckled after getting knocked back a few feet. Leven had gotten past his banana and pushed his chest with her stick before pulling it back when he made a grab for it.

Vesel seemed to be the type of fighter who riled the other person up as they fought, and continued to say little comments here and there about how shallow or weak an attempt had been. Then again, he was a teacher, so such comments made sense when Adam really thought about it.

The fight continued into the forest where Adam watched Vesel sprint up the trees exactly as his sister could do, apparently whatever semblance they had, it was one that carried through the entire family. Using the too long stick as a springboard, Leven would throw it between two branches or trunks and jump off in order to gain speed and dodge attacks. Between blocking punches from the man and the banana that was constantly being thrown and returned, the winged girl was in constant motion. The crowd had shifted in order to watch the action.

At one point, with Vesel slightly thrown off by a whack at his hand, she had even used his shoulders as a jump off point, a gust of wind pushing him down and away. They landed a few feet away from each other and there was another comment thrown that Adam couldn’t hear, but he saw the way the smaller girl leaned lazily against her stick, as if taunting.

In the next exchange of blocks and blows Leven hit his hand again and he shook off the tingle with a frown and finally Adam saw what she was aiming for, the glove. She was watching it more than anything else and let him rush her at this point, her eyes following the movement before she acted. When he was close enough, she spun her body, pushing her stick at the palm of his hand and beneath the fabric of the glove before throwing it away and off him. He ignored the momentary attack and forced her backwards into a tree trunk, pinning her wings behind her back. A torrent of wind attacked him from the side as he reached for her flag that she moved to block with her much smaller arms.

His hand closed around the flag at the same moment the wind disappeared to reveal his banana which hit him right in the head and jerked it to the side. The movement pulled him to the ground, grey flag in hand as the crowd looked on unsure, but clapped nonetheless. 

“So..,” Mr. Pruim muttered. “Vesel got the flag, but Leven got the better hit, he technically wins.”

“Leven’s gotten better, hasn’t she?” Rena mused, watching her son groan and rub his head.

“She’s one of the best in town,” Fern said proudly.

Leven looked slightly triumphant as she walked back towards them while her opponent trailed behind her, still holding his head with one hand.

“It doesn’t feel like I won,” he complained. “And I knew it was probably the last bout,” he winced. “I threw it so hard.”

“I saw,” Leven muttered.

Adam watched as she dropped her weapon with instructions to please destroy it, before going over to Blythe and Oron. Careful, he noticed, to avoid any contact that could be made with her left hand that she held limply at her side.

The next fight started and Adam watched it for a moment, but became distracted by other thoughts quickly. Oron’s fighting style was much more relaxed than his brother’s, and he took his time with Blythe, easily dodging and moving out of the way, using his ridiculous weapon to the best of its ability. Even though his younger sister had arguably the better combination of any of them with the axe shield.

His thoughts drifted to Leven and how she had pushed through her injury in order to fight and retaliate against a man much larger and stronger than her. The pain had barely even registered on her face before she was back to full force. He’d been thinking about how he might use the rose stick if it had been his fight against Vesel and it had nothing to do with what the bird  faunus had ultimately achieved. There had been a couple awkward points when the length of the staff had knocked her off balance or caught something along the way but she hardly let it stop her. In fact, she looked somewhat comfortable with it in her hands.

It was unfortunate that the  Pruims were mostly populated with taller genes, as Leven looked very much like a child among them, but she made up for it with her fighting prowess. Vesel, finally quiet, was sitting back with his eyes closed, massaging his temple in order to alleviate some of the throbbing when Fern approached them. One of her hands glowing faintly when she moved towards the twin as Adam turned back towards the fight in front of him.

Oron’s footwork was fast and precise, the bull  faunus could only imagine what he must’ve been like with his actual weapon. He kept the frying pan mostly on his arm as a shield to block against the axe that Blythe threw around like a hammer, probably trying to channel the energy she usually put into her broom. She was good at blocking, but not fast enough to get away when he finally reached for the flag and tore it away from her.

Dissatisfaction clouded her features as she trudged back over to where Leven was stood watching them, Vesel was back on his feet after Fern had eased his pain and returned. Adam wondered if she had also gone to help her daughter but one look at the limp hand answered his question.

With the fights over the crowd began to disperse, some people, mostly younger students, went to Mr. Pruim to discuss weapon ideas, while others started back towards the boats. Adam was just about to mention something about the smaller girl’s injury when the blond twin spoke up.

“Leven’s wrist is injured,” Oron cut through their idle conversations.

“I’m fine,” she muttered back.

“When did that happen?” Vesel asked with a hint of concern in his voice, as if he hadn’t been the one who caused it. He reached to touch it but she jerked away at his advancement.

“When you first pulled her weapon,” Adam explained without meaning to. The scene played out in his head, the slight twitch if her features to show the pain that occurred. They looked at him, surprised for a moment that he knew the exact time it happened, before Fern latched onto her daughter in order to heal.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Her mother grumbled. 

The shorter girl mumbled something that made Oron frown, he whispered something to her in return that caused her to look up at him suddenly, slightly wide eyed. The blond twin smiled down at her with what appeared to be thinly veiled malice.

Adam wondered about what the two were saying to each other and what their relationship was like, he had yet to even pin down what Leven was like as a person. At one point, Blythe had said she was shy, which would explain why they had rarely spoken to each other, yet she always greeted and chatted with the kids that came to watch them spar. Perhaps it was just to strangers that she kept her distance. She wasn’t a loud person, her bouncy blond friend made up for the quiet with her own booming voice, which he could hear even from outside the house sometimes.

The two families spoke for a bit longer until Mr. Pruim joined them and then there were invitations for dinner by both parties until they finally settled at going to the larger  family's house. 

“You’re welcome to come, Adam,” Rena addressed him.

Almost everyone, except Leven, looked at him for a response, and he stiffened at the variation of expressions he received. Arnan and Vesel were curious, yet skeptical, while Oron looked bored, his eyes sliding over to the winged girl not two seconds later, leaving the older adults to their quiet encouragement. It was a heavy offer.

“Maybe next time,” he muttered. Fern and Mr. Pruim nodded in understanding, while the others didn’t seem to care much, he didn’t blame them. A glance at Leven had them catching each other’s opposite eye, she looked at him as if she knew that he was lying, or could feel how out of place he felt with them.

Fern left him the boat to take back and assured him the door was unlocked, it always was. That was another frustrating thing. Everyone in the town either knew each other, or trusted each other enough not to steal or burglarize anyone else’s stuff. All the houses left their doors wide open on hot days, and in the later hours of evening. He could see into other people’s homes as easily as if he was standing on the front steps, did they have any sense of danger?

They must have called Warrick on the way over, as the old inn was empty when he got to it. There were leftovers from the day before in the fridge, according to Fern, and he was welcome to eat whatever he wanted.

Leven was proving a real force to be reckoned with, even with an injured wrist she had pushed on, keeping up with a man much larger than herself who happened to be a fighting instructor. Adam hadn’t any real speculations for the match, merely wanted to see how the twins were compared to Blythe and her winged partner. Still, he wondered what she was like with her own weapon, and what it was, as he had yet to even lay his eyes upon it.

Plenty of food was in the fridge, and though he was thankful at first for the silence of finally being alone there was a small part of him that felt it was much too quiet.


	5. Sore Tomorrow

Mornings didn’t change much with the return of so many kids and the Pruim’s from school. Sleepy faces of adults looked a little more worn and their tired smiles sagged compared to the weeks before but the town accepted it as if it had always been so. Fern and Warrick were out of the house more frequently that weekend, dealing with added rowdiness and damaged buildings where students had gotten out of hand. Come Monday there were others jogging through the tress in the forest and Adam almost grumbled at the extra bodies. Some of them were clumsy and he was slightly surprised when he was able to pass them as he took his usual training route, which appeared to be a common one if the added foot traffic was anything to go by. These were future huntsmen and huntresses that were going to school and being trained by professionals and he, a man who had almost died and spent months getting back to this point, was passing them. He couldn’t help but feel proud of that.

Most of them didn’t look his way, but a few glanced over and nodded in greeting, as if he was a regular. As he got closer to where he’d left his boat more kids started to appear on the shore, lacing up their shoes and stretching, getting ready for a run or workout that he’d already completed. Some were in groups and chatting idly while a few of them were almost shouting with excitement.

“My sister went on a patrol with Blythe last summer and said she’s really nice, not at all like Professor Pruim who does nothing but pick on us while we fight.” A girl with brown hair said.

“There’s also Ecru, he apparently always has snacks for the students that pick him,” another girl countered.

“Yeah, but he’s kind of old,” a boy chimed in.

“Isn’t his weapon just a pickaxe?”

“I heard he got a new one.”

“What, when?”

“Well, I want to be on Leven’s patrol,” a girl with, what appeared to be, glowing silver hair muttered. At her comment, a handful of other kids stopped to look at her with bored expressions. Adam had just made it to his boat and couldn’t help but listen to them, especially since most of them were speaking at such a volume he was sure everyone on the shore could hear it as well.

“Everyone wants to be on hers,” the first girl said again.

“I’ve never seen a bird  faunus fight,” a boy with red eyes mumbled.

“Neither have I,” a girl with dog ears added. “And I’m a faunus.”

“Really? I had no idea,” the glowing girl gasped loudly.

“I was joking.” The dog faunus deadpanned. 

“So was I.”

At this point Adam had heard enough of them bickering and picking on each other and almost sighed in relief when the sound of the boats motor drowned them out. Next time he’d pick somewhere else to run, a place less populated with teenagers ready to pounce on each other should anyone make a mistake.

He’d just finished tying off the boat to the dock when Leven landed in front of him, wearing the scouting uniform he had seen when they first met, her cloak fluttering as it settled. She didn’t speak at first and he offered her a barely curious look in response.

“Later we’re going to train hand to hand combat with a few of the students, if you want to come, we’re meeting in the meadow after dinner.” Her voice was calm as she stared up at him with blatant indifference.

Her offer surprised him, she rarely popped up in front of him like this and if she did it was usually because he was near her mom or grandfather. The most he ever saw her speak was when she interacted with the kids who came to watch her and Blythe spar on Fridays, and even then, it seemed carefully controlled. 

“I’ll be there,” he said, holding her gaze.

It was a great chance for him to fight, to train his body back into shape for combat, and there weren’t any other options for him unless he wanted to throw himself into some random  grimm without a weapon. He was already looking forward to it, to staring down his opponent and trading blows, feeling the power behind his hits. It’d been so long since he’d faced off against someone, his fists clenched in anticipation making the smaller  faunus flick her eyes at his hands for a second before looking back up at him.

“Cool,” she muttered before jumping away from the dock and flapping her wings along with a sudden breeze. He watched her for a second before continuing back towards the house for whatever food he could find for lunch, as Fern had said she would be gone in the next town for most of the day.

Leven didn’t appear at dinnertime, leaving Adam and Warrick to nod awkwardly at each other. They had conversations every once in a while, but nothing close to the ones he carried with Fern regularly. She often did most of the talking and he would reply to one of the many questions she had rattled to him during her rant. He didn’t mind it, and in fact kind of missed it now that she wasn’t there. It hadn’t started out that way, at first, he’d longed for a quiet house, but now he growled at his annoyance of it. Being here for so long was proving bad for his resolve.

Fern returned just as he was about to leave and wished him well once he said where he was going. On the way there he thought about who he wanted to spar against first, Leven was definitely top on his list, next was the blond twin, Vesel or Oron, he couldn’t remember. Either of the twins would be a good match really, Blythe was next and then whoever else wanted to, he couldn’t really complain. Any chance he got to get back into shape was welcomed eagerly, even if they put him up against the students first. 

The woods in the evening felt strange, as it was the first time he had been there as the sun began to wane. With the temperature falling slightly compared to the heat that had boiled down upon them during the day it actually felt kind of nice to walk amongst the trees. He heard them before he saw them and frowned at the memory of how loud and insistent the kids had been from earlier. If he did end up helping out around the town, like Mr. Pruim had said all those nights ago, it would have nothing to do with teaching students how to fight.

There was already one spar in progress between Blythe and the brown-haired twin as he came upon them in the clearing. The man was quick to attack just as he had been before but Blythe was good at blocking and reading his punches, they both landed a couple hits on each other before Oron or Vesel grabbed at her powerful leg and threw her into the ground. It knocked the wind from her lungs and had her glaring up at his smirking face.

“You always do that,” she snapped.

“Well stop being so predictable,” her brother laughed. She deadpanned at his response and grumbled something while getting to her feet.

Leven was a  little ways behind them talking to a group of teenagers that consisted of the glowing girl from earlier, a stocky boy with short copper colored hair, a boy with skin like dark chocolate, and a girl with bright yellow eyes that looked somewhat eerie. They were all taller than the bird  faunus but seemed wary of her presence, as if she was instead a hulking figure standing in front of him. Unsure of where to go Adam looked from Blythe and the twins to Arnan who had just joined the other students.

“Adam,” it was the small girls voice that beckoned him over.

He stopped beside her, eyeing the kids in front of him with an air of indifference that had a couple of them shrink slightly. He was much taller than the smaller  faunus next to him, it would be easy for him to rest his arm on her head, might even have to bend down for it. Up close he saw that the dark-skinned boy had a long braid of hair that was wrapped around his head and his eyes were a pale pink, the glowing girl was hard to look at, her shoulder length silver hair almost hurt his eyes when he tried to focus on it. The smaller girl, still taller than Leven, had yellow hair to match her eyes that was cut short in a pixie style, while the last kid stood nervously in the middle, his bigger build promising power that the others probably didn’t hold. Arnan, Adam realized, looked like a much younger version of his father, save for the plum colored eyes.

“These are some of the older kids who want to continue training over the break, specifically their hand to hand skills. There’s Mayar,” the glowing girl. “Morris,” dark skinned boy. “Paz,” yellow eyes. “And Rame,” she motioned at each kid who nodded in greeting.

“Today we’ll be testing you guys to see how far along you are and what you need to work on,” Blythe said. Standing next to her patrol partner with a grin. “Oron and Leven are for speed and accuracy, while Vesel and I are for power and blocking,” she explained motioning towards her brothers. Oron was blonde, Vesel was brown, Adam would try to remember that for the next time. “If you’re itching to spar you can do so with Adam, he won’t go easy on you.”

At his name Adam perked up to look at the wild haired girl who was grinning in his direction. They hadn’t asked him about it beforehand but he didn’t much care, even with his body the way it was now, out of service for so long, he was sure to be able to beat some kids. They didn’t know how he used to be, had no idea what he was like, and here they were giving him free reign.

“Wasn’t he injured?” Rame asked of them. 

“He was,” Adam answered about himself. His response caught the boy off guard and had the rest of the kids glancing at each other anxiously.

“It’ll be good for both of you,” Leven added in. Her voice as indifferent as it always was, she cast a wide glance at all of them before turning to leave. 

“Pick one,” Blythe said suddenly. Her fist clenched around five popsicle sticks that she held out for them to grab, which they took one of hesitantly. Morris and Paz went to speed, Mayar and Arnan to power, and Rame was left for Adam. Every fifteen minutes they would rotate and shift a student before the sun got too low to see anything. 

As far as sparring went Blythe explained that their goal was to show the kids what they could learn and the different fighting styles they could use without beating them too badly. Once they had fallen, with both hands and feet, flat on the ground the match was over and they could start again if they wanted. It sounded like a good system, and  apparently, they had been using it for a few summers now. 

Part of Adam wanted to watch the rest of them train the other kids as much as he wanted to spar himself, but there was plenty of time to watch them after he finished with the stocky boy. He’d been throwing punches into the air for a couple weeks now, training as he had in the past and was ready to push his body if it needed it.

“So, um,” Rame mumbled. “What’s your semblance?”

“Does it matter?” Adam questioned of the kid. He didn’t mean for his voice to come out so cold, and neither had the boy if his wary expression was anything to go by. “I don’t have my weapon,” he said as if it was a good explanation.

“Kay,” the kid nodded apprehensively. It was clear he had no idea what that meant to the situation but chose not to go any further with the older faunus who was obviously less friendly then his cohorts. “Should we start?”

“Go for it,” Adam muttered, adopting a more balanced position.

Rame glanced around for a moment to see that the other pairs had already started and rushed in without too much preparation. He was slow, and the bull  faunus had to hold back a laugh that threatened to spill from his lips until his body didn’t move as quickly as he wanted it to. There was a slight delay from what he wanted to happen and when his limbs responded, though he still managed to dodge. He was faster than the boy, but not fast enough to fight like he used to, especially since he’d relied on his sword a great deal.

The fighter in front of him was more of a boxer and knew how to parry and block, Adam caught a punch in the shoulder while he was still lamenting over his pathetic reflexes. It pushed him back a bit and had the kid grinning slightly, which made the taller man angry. He’d been a high leader at one-point, commanded troops and taken out groups of people by himself, yet he’d just taken a hit to the shoulder by a complete amateur. He needed more training, harder and faster training to get back to how he had been before. It needed to hurt more, to wound him with how much it ached, that was how he would know there was progress.

Fueled by his sudden anger Adam pushed his legs to move faster and jump back in order to evade and use his arm as if it was his sword, taking blows and throwing it out as if it were a sharp blade. Not expecting the quick retaliation  Rame stumbled, unprepared for the sudden torrent of parries and movement around him. The bull  faunus won by ducking under a heavy swing towards his face that threw the boy off balance, a twinge of pain followed his foot as he pushed it against the boy’s shin and knocked his legs from under him. Almost smashing his face into the ground, Rame let his hands to take the blow before the rest of his body collided with the ground.

Almost forgetting where he was for a moment Adam looked down at the kid warily, had that been too hard? How much could students take these days?

“That, uhm,” he started but didn’t know what to say. It hadn’t been a very thrilling spar that they’d had and Adam didn’t want to tell him it was when he could’ve beaten him in seconds a year prior.

“Wow,” Rame exclaimed while jerking to look at him suddenly. “Okay, again.”

He jumped to his feet seconds later, not even bothering to dust himself off before he got back into position. There was something different about the way he looked at Adam this time, a spark of admiration setting into his eyes as his expression hardened. The bull  faunus couldn’t help the smirk that pulled at his lips as he gazed down at the kid, perhaps he could hit a little harder than what he’d thought before.

This time  Rame was much harder to push back, though Adam knocked him off balance many times he recovered quickly and threw punches and kicks that were accurate enough to move with his dodges. Pushing the man to his knees a few times before he lashed back even stronger than before, much to the dismay of his body. It ended with the boy on the ground again, a burning determination in his eyes as Adam panted slightly, not used to being out of breath. His arms and legs had started to ache, Bakar had rained powerful hit after powerful hit down on his weathered body, and though he had come out on top in the end, it certainly didn’t feel that way.

“We’re switching,” Paz said with a smile.

She was fast in her fight against him, just one, she had said, that was enough for her to know what she needed to work on to do better against him the next time. It was obvious she relied on her weapon too much, and explained that it was a sniper that could also change into a bow that fired shots at different velocities depending on how far she pulled the string back. She wasn’t used to close combat and was often in the background during team battles.

Morris wasn’t too good at hand to hand either, explaining that his semblance allowed him to fight with his hair, and that was what he used to defend and counterattack along with a shotgun if people got too close to him. He was very flexible and twisted his body this way and that to dodge Adam, though he did end up on the ground eventually.

The youngest of the  Pruims was unpredictable and got Adam to the ground during their second fight. Much like how he was as a person, indecisive and worrisome, Arnan would glance this way and that, throwing half punches that turned into kicks and attempted attacks that were never carried through. It was almost frustrating facing him as he could never read what he was going to do next until it was right in front of him. It was a good fighting style, but so infuriating at the same time. He tapped out after the third fight, which Adam had ended as quickly as possible.

The glowing girl was last and, unprepared for her semblance, blinded the bull  faunus before knocking him to the ground with a powerful kick that forced him down. She let out a short laugh as he got back into a fighting stance and moved around her much like he had with  Rame . It made it harder for her to direct her light and he landed a kick in her chest that launched her back, the searing glow flickered as she growled. He pushed himself faster and in a desperate bid to catch him off guard again the girl began to flash in and out of brightness, making her movements look choppy and uncoordinated. They traded blows and landed a few feet apart, Adam’s body protesting at all the sudden movements he was making, not used to being thrown around as much as it currently was.

A smirk flashed across her features and made Adam frown, ignoring the burning ache in his body to stand tall once again, his teeth gritting against the pain, the red-haired man stared the girl down with malice. She faltered in her stance for a second before Leven landed between them a gust of wind whipping at their hair and clothes as she eyed them.

“He’s done, he can’t fight anymore,” she said to the glowing girl.

“But it was getting good,” Paz complained loudly.

“I’m fine,” Adam growled. If she thought he was going to listen to her she was wrong, there was nothing to stop him from cutting her down to get to the brat, except his lack of sword and strength perhaps. The thought calmed him down somewhat, his legs had begun to shake from overuse. Though his mind still burned to continue it was his body that would ultimately be the deciding factor.

“I thought he would last longer,” the glowing girl pouted.

“He almost died,” Blythe said nonchalantly. “Did you almost die?”

“No,” she said softly after considering it for a second.

Leven stepped in front of him, her eyes looking up at his face with a tinge of worry in her tired stare, as if he was worth it.

“Sorry,” she muttered. “I know you want to keep going, but if you keep going, I might have to carry you home and I don’t want to.”

“I’m not that weak,” he said bitterly.

“Mom got you new clothes,” she deflected his comment expertly. “Hope you like grey.”

“Does he need help getting back?” Oron asked from behind them.

“He’s fine,” the smaller  faunus assured. “But it’s going to hurt tomorrow,” she murmured only loud enough for Adam to hear.

“We can be done for the night anyway,” Blythe said making a couple of the kids sigh in relief.

With a small glare set in his features Adam turned away from the group of them as they began to huddle up and give feedback to the kids. He hadn’t been very good about giving them comments after their fights either, but didn’t much care. He had no reason to help them, and had no words to offer the brats anyway. At the moment they reminded him too much of the past and it was something that always left a bitter taste in his mouth, he’d rather not think about it if he could manage.

Getting back to the house felt like it took hours as the adrenaline from the first fight in months wore off his aches and pains sunk into his skin like cold water. Reminding him at every movement how soaked with strain his body was, but it had been worth it. He’d come out on top, for the most part, showing the kids that he wasn’t to be underestimated just because he’d been injured and out of commission for a while.

There was a small greeting from Fern on the other side of the front door that he offered a nod to in response before heading towards his room, sagging against his door once it had closed. True to Leven’s words there were clothes folded up and placed on the small table next to his bed, varying shades of grey and one pair of black pants. Somehow, they had noticed his clothes fraying or getting holes in it when he snagged it in the forest, he’d never ask them for anything else and they knew that. Part of him wanted to return the clothes to Fern, but what would she do with them? Leven was far too small to wear them instead, one of his shirts would fit her like a dress, and Warrick was too wide and thick with muscle.

He was thankful for them, but couldn’t help the small bit of disdain that bubbled up, they were too nice to him. After everything he’d done, he deserved far less, in fact, he deserved to be dead. Yet here he was, begrudgingly accepting clothes, food, and lodging from a mixed family he didn’t understand. Training with humans and talking to them as if his past had never occurred. He’d gotten used to it for the most part, but every once in a while, the uneasy feeling would return and cloud his mind. 

Thoroughly exhausted from the sparring matches Adam sunk down onto his bed as if he hadn’t slept in a few days. It had been thrilling, to be back in a fight and figuring things out as it came to him. The rush of throwing punches and kicks had him grinning in excitement. These kids with their own unique semblances, and so many of them to still fight, what else would turn up in the following days if he continued to go? Speculations of how well the others would fight and when he would finally be back in shape filled his mind, fading slowly as sleep stole his thoughts away.

Leven had been right; he would never admit it to her but she had been one hundred percent correct the day before when she said that it would hurt the next day. When he first opened his eyes there was a dull ache he could feel even as he lay static, but as soon as he tried to move the rest of his body screamed in agony. Everything strained and screamed at him as he pushed into a sitting position and moved his legs over the side of the bed. He hadn’t been this sore since first waking up all those days ago.

Forcing himself to go to the bathroom, he had his own on the first floor, Adam dragged himself painfully across the hall to take a shower. Water, almost too hot, scorched his aching body before he changed it to cold and breathed a sigh. He didn’t have to worry about the hot water running out as the inn had a large tank from when it used to be used by many different people throughout the day.

After dressing and sitting in his room for a bit too long he made it to a table in the kitchen that was close to the windows. He often sat there when he wasn’t in a good mood and Fern knew to leave him be for the most part. A frown tugged his lips down as he sank into the chair and was immediately met with a steaming mug of something pale pink that Fern set down in front of him. He recalled the drink from his first few days back in the world of consciousness, when he’d never cared for the taste but craved the soothing numbness it brought. It radiated warmth against his knuckles as he eyed it warily, curious as to how she knew he needed it.

“I heard you did really well,” she smiled at him softly. 

“Yeah,” he answered gruffly. Leven must have told her about his sparring matches the night before, which also meant that she had been watching him the prior evening. He wondered what she thought of it, if he did as well, or better, than she had been expecting.

“Best stay here today though,” she said with a soft chuckle.

“I wouldn’t make it far anyway,” he agreed with a small grin.

Fern nodded in response and moved back towards the kitchen, offering to make him some food if he was hungry. He assured her the drink would suffice for now and she went on her way to let him be alone for a while. A sip of the drink told him of cinnamon and apples, which didn’t explain why it was pink so there must have been other ingredients that he was missing. It was just as soothing as he remembered and made completely better by the comfortable taste that now coated his tongue.

He wanted to spar with the glowing girl again, her semblance was interesting and, though she was annoying when she opened her mouth, seemed to be the best fighter of the group from the night before. It was an improvement to his past feelings about the place, now that he’d gotten back into trading blows it would be hard to keep him out of them, his goal remained unchanged, but he could put it off for a while.


End file.
